


More Than A Coincidence

by yorkshirelass23



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yorkshirelass23/pseuds/yorkshirelass23
Summary: Inspired by events in 2x04 'What if God was one of us'. One-eyed old man Sanders is Walt.
Relationships: Michael Guerin & Walt Sanders
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	More Than A Coincidence

People didn't often question how Walt managed to run a garage with one eye at his ripe old age. At least, not to his face. Not that he cared all too much about what others thought of him anyway.

Walt Sanders had been in the business of repairs ever since he was old enough to make his own living. People used to scoff at him when he first started fixing radios and bikes. They doubted he even knew what he was doing. Still, he had one good eye, a decent pair of hands, and a mind for mechanics and that was all he needed back then.

These days even he couldn't deny that it was hard to keep up with demand. Technology kept getting more and more advanced and the joints of his fingers had become stiff from rheumatoid arthritis.

So in the summer of 2007, he decided to partially retire and let somebody else do all the hard labour for a change. And that was when Walt first met Michael.

Michael Guerin had been rustling around in the scrapyard in search for some copper wire to sell for a quick buck when Walt offered to hire him. The old man had seen the faded bruise on the teen's jaw. He knew that Guerin's current foster dad, Daryl Winston, liked to drink and had a way with his fists. He saw the scrawny limbs hidden underneath layers of threadbare clothes. He understood that the kid was just looking for a means to survive the hell that was the foster care system. And Walt had always had a soft spot for strays.

Of course, Michael didn't trust him at first. A traumatic childhood with no real parental figure would make any kid doubt a sincere sign of generosity, but logic had won over that initial apprehension and the teen eventually accepted the mechanic's offer.

Now Walt watched from the shade of the garage as Michael pulled himself up onto the tailgate of the old beat-up truck he was working on, and tucked into the meagre portions of his leftovers from the Crashdown for lunch. When he finished, he fished out a small notebook from his back pocket and started scrawling something down.

Walt observed as Guerin rapidly scribbled something out and stared at the pages in his lap forlornly. There was something in his solemn expression that reminded Walt of a soft-spoken woman with fair hair and sorrowful eyes.

_“You seem sad, Ms Nora."_

_Nora Truman broke out of her daze and smiled at him softly. “I’m just missing my dance partner," she sighed._

Walt wasn’t sure if it was his old age that made him see a dead woman’s face in the sullen teen, or whether he was finally losing sight in his one remaining good-eye, but he couldn't help but notice the resemblance between them.

_“He’s about your height. Curly hair, though.”_

Guerin certainly didn’t look older than Walt, but he did possess the curly hair that Ms Nora had described.

_“He has my whole heart."_

Now that Walk thought about it some more, the kid wore his heart on his sleeve the same way she had done. They both seemed to share a great capacity for love and yet they were both haunted by some unspeakable horror.

_“I think you’ll like him."_

He remembered that Ms Nora had always spoken fondly of her son. He remembered tales of a desperate situation that caused them to flee their home. How they had to hide until they could find a way back. How it wasn't safe for her son to meet him yet.

_“He’s very smart.”_

Michael took to mechanics like a duck to water. Walt had never seen someone strip an engine down and put it back together as good as new like it was as easy as solving a damn jigsaw puzzle. Guerin claimed he was a quick study, but Walt got the impression that there was more to the teen than he was letting on. Those honey-coloured eyes belied a level of intelligence that Walt could only dream of.

_“Very brave.”_

It was impossible. Irrational. Completely illogical that Michael Guerin had anything to do with the two refugees that he and Mr Bronson had helped over 60 years ago.

Then again, from what he remembered about the Truman sisters as a child to what little he knew about Guerin's own mysterious childhood, a small part of Walt couldn't help but think that maybe it was more than a coincidence that they shared the same brooding expression.

And that one small part was more than enough for Walt to do for Michael what he had failed to do for Ms Nora.

Give him a safe place to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic since I decided to start writing again.
> 
> I saw someone on Tumblr mention a theory about Old Man Sanders actually being Walt and that he's looked out for Michael all these years when Nora couldn't. I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I had to write it up. It's not been proof-read or anything, but I thought I get it up before 2x05 ruins that theory!


End file.
